48 



THE ODD-TOED UNGULATES. 



uttering all the day their shrill squeal of rage. 

 This I once saw myself. 



" Four of us, consisting of myself, three native 

 hunters, and my gun-bearer, were on our way to 

 join a native hunting-party some twelve miles off, 

 and just after crossing a small stream about half- 

 way we saw a flock of rhinoceros-birds hovering 

 over an ukaku thicket, and evidently accompany- 

 ing some game passing through it. The place was 

 of no great size, so two of the hunters ran round 

 to the further sides, while I and the remaining 

 one went into it, and in a few seconds struck the 

 spoor of an upetyane. 1 I am thankful now to 

 recollect that I at once suggested leaving the 

 vicious brute alone, partly because it was such 

 dangerous work and its death would do us no 

 good, partly on account of the time it would waste 

 and the distance we had yet to go. However, the 

 hunter wanted to go after it, and to have said 

 more would have implied fear on my part, a thing 

 one has to guard against when, being the only 

 white man among natives far in the interior, one's 

 comfort, and. not impossibly one's life, depends 

 upon one's prestige; and so we went on, and in 

 scarcely five minutes I saw it, having already 

 heard it snorting like a steam-engine, trotting 

 along, tossing its head, and looking like mischief 

 personified, having evidently got the wind of some 

 of us, and being quite as anxious to find us as we 

 it. It was about fifteen yards off, and I instantly 

 let drive with both barrels into its shoulder, spring- 

 ing as I did so into the tree under which I was. 



"My unlucky companion, who was a little distance 

 on one side, and had hitherto only heard it, came 

 running towards the shots, and absolutely met it 

 face to face; he at once fired and turned to run, 

 but it was too late, and he was caught on the spot, 

 thrown up with a single toss, which must probably 

 have stunned him, and was then trampled out of 

 all semblance to humanity by the bloodthirsty 

 brute. Any description would be sickening. I 

 could do nothing, for my gun-bearer had disap- 

 peared, seeking safety in some other spot, and I 

 found that I had not a single cartridge left in the 

 little pouch I carried ; but after a minute I could 

 stand the inaction no longer, and getting down 

 from the tree unperceived I stole away, and as 

 soon as I was out of reach began to shout to the 

 others. Two of them soon came up, my gun- 

 bearer and a hunter, one of them having hidden 

 himself on finding the sort of animal we had to 

 1 Native (Kaffir) name of the Rh. bicornis. 



deal with ; and I having got a supply of cartridges, 

 we went back to the spot until we got sight of the 

 brute, still trampling and squealing, when, kneeling 

 down, we fired at it together. 



" My nerves had been so much shaken that I was 

 unsteady and missed clean, not twenty yards off, 

 but the ball from my companion's great elephant- 

 gun sped more truly, and the brute fell on its 

 knees, where, by dint of repeated if not very well- 

 aimed shots, I succeeded in keeping it until he had 

 reloaded, when we finished it off together." 



In illustration of the ferocious disposition of the 

 animal one instance is related in which the con- 

 sequences are little more than amusing to read, 

 though disagreeable enough no doubt at the time 

 of the occurrence. A small party of hunters, of 

 which Mr. Drummond was one, were engaged in 

 roasting an antelope, the sole -resource after a hard 

 day's work, for their evening meal. '' In about an 

 hour the first shoulder was done, and the boy 

 brought it to me and stuck it up in front of me by 

 means of the stick which had already been sup- 

 porting it while roasting, and I, drawing my hunt- 

 ing-knife, and sharpening a stick for a fork, was 

 just in the act of breaking my fast for the first 

 time that day, when I heard a sudden succession 

 of puffs, like a train just starting, and could dis- 

 tinguish the heavy footfall of some animal. In a 

 second everybody was on his feet, and in another 

 we were all scrambling up the tree, I, I am sorry 

 to say, still holding on to my shoulder of antelope, 

 and oblivious of the fact that I had left my gun 

 down below. We were barely in time; indeed, if 

 the rhinoceros had charged straight up to the tree 

 it must have caught me; but it was not necessary 

 to go very high, and I was soon able to watch its 

 movements. Hardly ten seconds had elapsed 

 since I had heard the first warning puff, and now 

 our fire was scattered in every direction, and the 

 vicious animal was stamping upon it and every- 

 thing else it saw, and squealing with rage the 

 whole time. The meat had disappeared, some of 

 it trampled into the ground, and some thrown 

 yards away by its feet; two great burning logs of 

 wood were smoking on the top of my spread-out 

 bed, and even from where I was I could smell the 

 smouldering blankets; the remains of my water- 

 calabash were lying in every direction, and every- 

 thing in camp, save my gun, which the brute had 

 not so far touched, was more or less destroyed. 

 It was enough to try any one's temper, and I 

 asked the man next me if his gun was loaded, and 



